IT was a bright Saturday evening at the Cowdenbeath Racewall and on a dry track surface there was some exciting racing, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.
Practice generally went without a problem although newcomer Stephen Gray had his car towed off and spent the remainder of the session repairing the problem.
There were new faces in the Prostock Basics coming in the form of Elise Robertson and Harry Wotherspoon, all surviving the practice session. Aaron Vaight, Richard Walden and Gary Walker were the Formula II visitors with Dom Davies and Brad Fox from south of the border with their Saloons.
Marley Montgomery was having his Prostock debut in a smaller than usual field of cars.
Last week’s Formula II final winner, Paul Ford, was having his first outing from the blue grade where he joined Paul Reid and Reece McIntosh.
However, there was drama towards the end of the race when Ford's throttle jammed open and he crashed heavily into the wall. The engine revved until the kill switch was pulled, but Ford was able to step out of his car and walked off the track.
Walker made the better of the starts to lead Rebecca Reid off the start line in Heat one and soon opened up a gap.
Graeme Leckie was leading the chase but he had McIntosh and Ford chasing. Picking his way through the field was Steven Burgoyne and on the last lap he was challenging for the lead. However Leckie held on to win from Burgoyne and McIntosh.
Heat two was only a few laps old when it was suspended after Rebecca Reid spun into the pit bend wall. The field lined up behind Walker but on the restart Craig Wallace and Burgoyne overtook with Leckie now third with Ford fourth.
The leading duo broke away but after a few laps Burgoyne retired. This left Wallace clear and he went on to win from Leckie and Ford.
Walker best R. Reid away from the start line when the final started, although the latter was to drop places. Leckie took the lead by lap five then had Ford and Burgoyne chasing.
They ran in close order for the remainder of the race with Leckie holding on to win, his first BriSCA F2 Final win. Ford led the Grand National until the closing stages of the race when he lost out to Burgoyne. However, Ford's throttle jammed wide open and he crashed heavily into the wall.
The race suspended until the engine was switched off and Paul was safely got out of his car.
Stuart Shevill Jnr was back after his final success in a bigger field of Saloons. Dom Davies made the better of the starts to lead from Grady Ross in Heat one, but as the cars crossed the start line Holly Glen was sent spinning out of the race.
Charlie Burgoyne started from the rear of the field and slotted in behind the red graders. Up front Davies made short work of easing away, initially from, Ross but over the closing laps Gary Paterson was slowly eating into his lead.
At the close Davies won from Paterson and Ross.
At the start to heat two there were a couple of squabbles at the front of the grid before Barry Glen appeared in the lead.
Stuart Shevill Jnr dropped to the tail of the field as Davies hit the front. He then eased away from the pack. H. Glen was sent spinning by Fox but making profit was Burgoyne, moving into third.
Davies reeled off the remaining laps to win from Ross then Burgoyne.
The Saloon Final was another classic with H. Glen the initial leader, but then there was a chaotic spell which saw K. Gilmour coming to a halt on the back straight, Ross and Burgoyne tangling on the pit bend, cars clattering off the wall, and when the dust settled Derek Duff was leading. The race then settled down, well a bit, with Duff going on to win from Shevill Jnr and Darren Rae.
The Prostock Basic field was split into three groups with each driver racing twice.
There was some exciting racing from the drivers. Amongst those who made it onto the grid was Gray, after some repairs in the pits.
Kevin Nicol beat Calum Nicol off the start line in Heat one but was soon joined by Wotherspoon and Norman Moore Jnr.
John Paton spun on the turnstile bend as the field streamed through. Scott Turner was making progress as was Joanne Hilditch from the back of the field.
Soon there was a five car train for the lead but K. Nicol was able to fend off C. Nicol to win with Wotherspoon third.
Joe Rodger was the first to show when Heat two got underway but the lead changed hands as Charles Hay and Wotherspoon charged through.
Then a four car shunt stopped the race with Hilditch's car suffering a lot of damage. On the restart Liam Boyle made up two places quickly, then closed on Hay and into second.
He slowly closed the gap but with only few laps remaining dived inside to lead, going on to win from Hay and Alex Mill.
C. Nicol led Heat three from Moore Jnr, but as the race progressed, he began to ease away. The race was suspended after Graeme Dignan, Turner and Boyle were caught up and ended against the pit bend wall.
C. Nicol led on the restart and held on to win from Phil Payne and Moore Jnr.
There were 13 white grade drivers on the track for the final with Payne leading the field away from Wotherspoon and Hay.
However, Gail Paton and Ellie Ferguson got caught up and there was oil on the track which caused havoc, suspending the race.
Once the track was cleared and the oil treated the race restarted with Wotherspoon going on to win from Payne and Moore Jnr.
There were two new faces in the Prostocks, namely Marley Montgomery and Liam Georgeson. Montgomery got the proceedings underway in Heat one, but was caught by Kai McNulty then John Mason.
The latter was to get past both on his way to win from Lewis Gilchrist and Paul Barron.
Montgomery and Georgeson squabbled over the lead during the early stages of Heat two with the latter finding the inside line to forge ahead. However, he lost out to Gilchrist who came through to win from Georgeson and K. McNulty.
Georgeson led the cars away when the final started, from Montgomery but P. McNulty soon moved into second.
Georgeson had a decent lead but when K. McNulty moved into second the gap closed. On the last lap K. McNulty slipped through to win from Georgeson with Mason finishing third after Mark Boyle hit the pit bend wall and retired.
This week the Formula 2s and Saloons return but this time with the Stock Rods and the National Bangers with the usual 6pm start. Check the Racewall site for details.
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